Piggy Fell And Is Dragging Hind Legs!

[Corncobss]

Hi so a couple of nights ago my pigs were out for some exercise and I thought hey let's have a wee loom at them check there nails etc. So I stand up with him in my hand and he squirms and jumps falls about 4 foot and his hind legs stopped working in the panic and mayhem my boyfriend and I took him to the emergency vets. The vets said it would just be some temp muscle damage, she gave him some metacam and told us to see his own vet the following morning.
So we visit our vets in the morning and book an X-ray, all came out clear thankfully. So now we're on metacam and a medication to make sure he still poos and pees normal while he's weak down below. We went back for a check up and the vet said he's doing okay just try some muscle therapy.

What I'm looking for here is for anyone who has been in a similar situation and what they did or if anyone has anytips to make Thoe comfortable as possible while he goes through this.

Thank you so much!

 

[Piggie buddies]

Hi and Welcome!
I think just to make it comfy you should use fleece for bedding in the cage. My guinea pig zazu fell of my bed, he did a loud squeck-yell for 10 seconds then all of the sudden he was sprinting around my bedroom. It turns out he was absolutely fine so it isn't really a similar situation but i do recommend using fleece for bedding as its comfy on their feet (if you didn't use it before).

I hoped I helped

 

[Bianca Duncan]

Hi so a couple of nights ago my pigs were out for some exercise and I thought hey let's have a wee loom at them check there nails etc. So I stand up with him in my hand and he squirms and jumps falls about 4 foot and his hind legs stopped working in the panic and mayhem my boyfriend and I took him to the emergency vets. The vets said it would just be some temp muscle damage, she gave him some metacam and told us to see his own vet the following morning.
So we visit our vets in the morning and book an X-ray, all came out clear thankfully. So now we're on metacam and a medication to make sure he still poos and pees normal while he's weak down below. We went back for a check up and the vet said he's doing okay just try some muscle therapy.

What I'm looking for here is for anyone who has been in a similar situation and what they did or if anyone has anytips to make Thoe comfortable as possible while he goes through this.

Thank you so much!

What pain medication did you used?

 

[Adelle]

Hi!

Sorry to hear your little one is injured but well done on seeking vet advice so quickly.

What is the medication he is on to keep him weeing and pooing?

Is he eating properly? Please weigh him daily at the moment to make sure is eating enough. If he is losing weight, please step in with syringe feeding:
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Is his legs/feet warm, or are they very cold? This will let you knownif blood is circulating to the limbs properly.

Does he have full control of his bladder and rectum? Did the vet check his anal sphincter i.e his back passage to see if the muscle was still working?

I would try gentle massage on his hind limbs and lower body. Any sign of pain and move on to a different area. A warm (not hot) bath with his hind end submerged along with gentle massage, whilst holding him steady and comfortably can help too- but you need to weigh up the stress factor of this to see if he will gain any benefit from it or if it will stress him further. Continue with the metacam as instructed.

Keep him on absorbent bedding and change it several times a day to prevent urine scalding.

It really will be a waiting game to see if the use of legs return. X

 

[Wiebke]

Poor boy! It must be auch relief that there is no spinal injury. What he needs now is time and patience to settle and heal.

Hi so a couple of nights ago my pigs were out for some exercise and I thought hey let's have a wee loom at them check there nails etc. So I stand up with him in my hand and he squirms and jumps falls about 4 foot and his hind legs stopped working in the panic and mayhem my boyfriend and I took him to the emergency vets. The vets said it would just be some temp muscle damage, she gave him some metacam and told us to see his own vet the following morning.
So we visit our vets in the morning and book an X-ray, all came out clear thankfully. So now we're on metacam and a medication to make sure he still poos and pees normal while he's weak down below. We went back for a check up and the vet said he's doing okay just try some muscle therapy.

What I'm looking for here is for anyone who has been in a similar situation and what they did or if anyone has anytips to make Thoe comfortable as possible while he goes through this.

Thank you so much!

Hi and welcome!

It must be auch a relief for you that there is no spinal injury.

I would assume that you need tima and patience for the damage to heal and your boy to slowly regaining more mobility again.

Keep him on soft bedding and change frequently, so he is not sitting in a damp spot - about once or twice daily if he is hunkering down in a favourite spot. Initially, keep hay, water and pellets nearby, so he can get to all of them. Weigh him daily at the same time (gently!) to make sure that he getting to enough food and water. Hay should make up to 80% of the daily food intake, so seeing your boy munch on veg is not necessarily telling the whole story. if necessary, offer additional syringe food to make up for any fibre he is not getting.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Once the pain is receding, you can slowly start to encourage more mobility and - if he is happy about it - gently massage his back legs.

 

[Bianca Duncan]

Thank you very much


Hi and welcome!

It must be auch a relief for you that there is no spinal injury.

I would assume that you need tima and patience for the damage to heal and your boy to slowly regaining more mobility again.

Keep him on soft bedding and change frequently, so he is not sitting in a damp spot - about once or twice daily if he is hunkering down in a favourite spot. Initially, keep hay, water and pellets nearby, so he can get to all of them. Weigh him daily at the same time (gently!) to make sure that he getting to enough food and water. Hay should make up to 80% of the daily food intake, so seeing your boy munch on veg is not necessarily telling the whole story. if necessary, offer additional syringe food to make up for any fibre he is not getting.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Once the pain is receding, you can slowly start to encourage more mobility and - if he is happy about it - gently massage his back legs.[/QUOTE]

 

[Corncobss]

He is on ranitidine
We have him on fleece bedding so it is easier to move about. He is deffinatley eating as normal. I personally don't think he would be comfortable with the water as the both of my pigs get stressed easily. We have just been so stressed and I've had to change my availability at work so that I'm home for when he gets medication exercises etc.

 

[Adelle]

He is on ranitidine
We have him on fleece bedding so it is easier to move about. He is deffinatley eating as normal. I personally don't think he would be comfortable with the water as the both of my pigs get stressed easily. We have just been so stressed and I've had to change my availability at work so that I'm home for when he gets medication exercises etc.

If he doesnt like baths, dont do the water massage as stressing him is the last thing he needs. Ranitide will help his tummy, but there are other more powerful gut stimulants available so if his poo output reduces, ask the vet about this. Examples include emeprid/metacloprimide. The ranitidine wont help with urination, so check his bed regularly for urine to make sure he is still able to void his bladder, as this can be a complication with spinal injuries.

 

[Corncobss]

Yeah he's urinating fine, bedding is getting changed regularly and he is getting wiped down a couple times a day so that he isn't lying where he's been peeing all wet so he gets sponged and dried. How long would you think to keep him on the metacam? We have been given 20ml in total and told 0.44ml every 24 hours.
Will need to ask the vet at the next check up to check his anal scphinter as you have asked as I'm unsure if they did.

 

[Adelle]

Yeah he's urinating fine, bedding is getting changed regularly and he is getting wiped down a couple times a day so that he isn't lying where he's been peeing all wet so he gets sponged and dried. How long would you think to keep him on the metacam? We have been given 20ml in total and told 0.44ml every 24 hours.
Will need to ask the vet at the next check up to check his anal scphinter as you have asked as I'm unsure if they did.

I'm assuming thats the metacam for cats? I'd imagine he should be on it until he starts to improve, but your vet will be the best to advise you on that one.

I really hope hes on the mend soon

 

[SmAsh]

Hi, I have a piggy with the same issue. The x-ray said nothing as well. How come the vet thinks its muscle and not spinal? My vet said they cannot tell.

 

[Corncobss]

They said as the X-ray was showing no damage to the spine in the X-ray the only other options was to watch out for nerve damage but as he started to regain some movement it's a deffinate that it's his muscles as far as they could tell. So he's on metacam and we do exercises such as mock standing, you put his feet down as you lower his body down. Leg stretches and rotations.

 

[SmAsh]

It didn't show any spinal damage on Smoke's x-ray either but they said it would be too early to show. They said that they were not sure he could control his wee but he still tries to run away from us if he wants to go so I would have thought that this showed he did. How long did you leave it before you tried to get his muscles moving? I'm worried that if he sits still too long that his muscles will start to get to week. How long until you noticed his legs getting better? Sorry for all the questions, I really want him to get better They said we would have to put him down in two weeks if he starts to get sores and I really don't want to.

 

[karonus]

We had a sow called Star that had about three bouts of paralysis, starting with the hind legs and then all four legs. The first time she had an injection of metacam in between her shoulder blades and after about a week she started to get movement back. The other occassions she had begun suffering arthritis and was on metacam for that. Following an operation for what appeared to be an abcess the vet found a cyst on her neck internally. We believe this cyst on occassion became inflamed pressing on the spine. Metacam being anti inflammatory helped reduce the swelling. You have to be patient and allow nature to heal but try hydrotherapy not only will it keep underneath clean but may also help. We used to run a warm bath not too deep and hold Star in the warm water so the heat could get into her legs and also wash her. Used to do this twice daily.

 

[Corncobss]

I wouldn't give up hope just make sure you him clean. We were told after we went back 5 days later and the vet said he was showing improvement, he could feel pain in his feet and from there until now we were told to start with the leg movements. Now we've been told we have to try with the hydrotherapy as he will soon become used to it and it will relax his muscles. The first vet was so pessimistic she was Like "he will get sores and he'll be in pain so be prepared for the worst"

 

[SmAsh]

Smoke also felt pain in his leg today for the first time, and I don't know if it is me being hopeful but he has tried to pull one foot back underneath. How do I do hydrotherapy?

 

[Corncobss]

I'm not totally sure what to do with hydro therapy as my boyfriend went to the appointment, he knows what to do. But from what I know it's just a warm, but not too warm, bath and not too deep you let them sit in it and relax